Condition responsive water quench in a closed coke cooling system

ABSTRACT

INCANDESCENT COKE IS RECEIVED FRO A COKE OVEN THROUGH A CLOSED COKE GUIDE INTO A CLOSED HOPPER CAR; THE CAR TRAVELS TO A CLOSED COOLING UNIT WHERE THE COKE IS DUMPED. IN THE CLOSED UNIT, THE COKE IS CHARGED AT A PREDETERMINED RATE ONTO A CONVERYOR WHICH TRAVELS AT A SET SPEED. THE COKE ON THE CONVEYOR PASSES THROUGH   WATER SPRAYS WHICH DIRECT WATER AT A DETERMINED FLOW RATE ON TO THE COKE TO COOL THE COKE TO A PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURE. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE QUENCHED COKE IS CONVEYED AWAY FOR FURTHER PROCESSING.

y 25, 1971 B. w. HINCHLIFFE 3,580,313

' CONDITION RESPONSIVE WATER QUENCH IN A CLOSED COKE COOLING SYSTEMFiled Jan. 28, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet l I NVENTOR.

EflS/L Ml. H/NCHL IFFE y 25, 1971 B. w. HINCHLIFFE 3,580,313

' CONDITION RESPONSIVE WATER QUENCH IN A CLOSED COKE COOLING SYSTEMFiled Jan. 28, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet z I NVENTOR.

BASIL W. H/NCHL IFFE United States Patent O 3,580,813 CONDITIONRESPONSIVE WATER QUENCH IN A CLOSED COKE COOLING SYSTEM Basil W.Hinchlitfe, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Koppers Company, Inc. FiledJan. 28, 1969, Ser. No. 794,485 Int. Cl. C101! 39/12 US. Cl. 20139 11Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Incandescent coke is received from acoke oven through a closed coke guide into a closed hopper car; the cartravels to a closed cooling unit where the coke is dumped. In the closedunit, the coke is charged at a predetermined rate onto a conveyor whichtravels at a set speed. The coke on the conveyor passes through watersprays which direct water at a determined flow rate on to the coke tocool the coke to a predetermined temperature. Subsequently, the quenchedcoke is conveyed away for further processing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improved methodsand apparatus for transporting hot coke from a coke oven and for coolinghot coke with a significant reduction in air pollution and conservationof water.

conventionally, hot incandescent coke is pushed from each oven of a cokeoven battery, in turn, into an open topped quenching car which travelsalong a track on the coke side of the battery of ovens. A locomotivemoves the car carrying the hot incandescent coke to a conventionalquenching station whereupon water sprays are applied to both the hotcoke and the car. Thereafter, the quenched coke is dumped from the carinto a wharf where it dries and cools to a suitable handlingtemperature. One disadvantage of this practice is that the coke is notquenched uniformly; nor is water used in the most eificient manner.Also, the quenched coke has a nonuniform moisture content. A furtherdisadvantage of the conventional practice is the time delay in pushingthe coke from the ovens because the cars are not immediately availableto receive coke from another oven. The schedules for pushing coke ovensin a battery are such that in the conventional practice, the single carcannot always handle all of the ovens. Another disadvantage with theconventional practice is that gases evolve from the reaction of the hotincandescent coke with the air and also gases evolve from the reactionof incandescent coke with the water substantially contributing to theproblem of air pollution. Furthermore, about 1% by weight of the coke islost by burning in an open quenching car as the car travels from thecoke oven to the conventional quenching station.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART In an attempt to provide for uniform quenchingof coke and to overcome the problem of scheduling the discharge of cokeovens Wilson, Pat. No. 3,373,086 provides a chamber separate from thecoke carrying car to receive the hot incandescent coke from the car,which chamber includes a conveyor in one embodiment of Wilson thatreceives the hot incandescent coke and carries the hot coke to the waterspraying chamber. The conveyor stops and sprays apply water to quenchthe hot, incandescent coke. Thereafter, the conveyor is reactivated toremove the quenched coke from the chamber. The method and apparatus ofWilson has several inadequacies. The batch dumping of the hot coke doesnot uniformly distribute the hot, incandescent coke upon the conveyor3,589,813- Patented May 25, 1971 with a result of non-uniform cooling ofthe coke and a non-uniform moisture content of the coke; the dumping andquenching is not continuous, but is a batch process. Also, excessivequantities of water tend to be used to assure quenching. Furthermore,air pollution results because the car of Wilson is open and the hotincandescent coke is dumped onto an open conveyor; both the hot coke andthe steam distilled from the quenching operation evolve fumes into theatmosphere.

In accordance with my invention, a closed coke cooling system isprovided that conserves the use of water and prevents the pollution ofthe atmosphere, and yet produces a coke which has a uniform moisturecontent. In addition, a greater yield of coke is produced by myinvention because the hot coke is protected from reaction with air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, a system isprovided for treating hot coke discharged at a temperature ofincandescence from a coke oven comprising a cooling unit for receivingand quenching hot coke, a closed hopper car for transporting hot cokefrom a coke oven to the cooling unit, and a guide interposed between thecoke oven and the car for the transfer of coke from the coke oven to thecar. Means are provided on the car and the cooling unit for cleaningparticulate matter from the gases coming off the hot coke. Thecoolingunit, the car, and the guide provide a closed system to protect the cokefrom the air. The cooling unit includes a means for spraying water and ameans for subjecting a uniform layer of hot coke to spraying water for apredetermined time to cool the hot coke from the temperature ofincandescence to a temperature below the boiling point of water.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan layout of an embodiment of the closed cokecooling system in accordance with. my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the closed hopper car shown inphantom lines in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an end view of the closed coke cooling system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The closed coke cooling system, FIG. 1, isgenerally indicated at 11 as including a closed coke guide 31 in phantomlines, a closed hopper car 51 in phantom lines, and a pair of closedcooling units 21.

The closed coke guide 31 in FIG. 3 has smooth solid walls 32 forming achannel through which the hot incandescent coke passes when pushed froma coke oven (not shown) into the closed car 51. The coke guide 31 isrollably mounted on rolls 33 which are connected to a guide frame 35.The guide frame 35 has wheels 37 riding upon a track 39 on the coke sideof the battery, The closed guide 31 has two open ends (41a,b) one end41a engages the conventional coke oven door jamb (not shown) and theother end 41b engages the closed car 51 in such a fashion as to providea closed channel connecting the coke oven and the closed hopper car 51together to prevent the exposure of the hot incandescent coke to theatmosphere and to contain any gases evolving from the hot incandescentcoke to the car 51. The coke guide 31 may be conveniently designed sothat it telescopes between the coke oven and the car on the rolls 33.

The closed car 51 in FIG. 2 travels on another track 53 which isdisposed at the coke side of the coke oven battery at a. lower levelthan the track 39 over which the guide 31 travels and which leads to thecooling units 21 as shown in FIG. 1. The closed quenching car 51 in FIG.2 includes a body portion 55 riding upon wheels 57 which engage thetrack 53. The body portion 55 has a bottom 59, side walls 61, end walls63 and a closed top 69 forming a closed chamber to contain any evolvedgases within the body 55 and to protect the hot coke in the car 51 fromthe air. The phantom lines in FIG. 2 indicate the height to which theincandescent coke rises in a fully charged closed car 51. With myinvention, it is unnecessary to charge the coke uniformly in the car asopposed to conventional practice requiring the car to be graduallyinched forward to provide a uniform layer of coke in the conventionalquenching car as the coke is discharged from the oven. The body portion55 extends from the wheels 57 of the car to a height greater than thatof a coke oven door. The side wall 61 nearest the coke oven battery hasa swinging door 71 or the like pivotally mounted on the car 51conforming substantially to the size of the coke oven door jamb. Thisdoor 71 will normally be closed to provide the closed chamber of the car51; the door 71 will be opened by the coke guide 31 to receive the endof the coke guide 31 when the car 51 is aligned with the guide 31 toform a seal between the guide 31 and the door 71 which willsubstantially protect the coke contained by the car from the air.

The bottom 59 of the car has gates 73 or the like shown in FIG. 3 whichare normally closed in order to contain the hot incandescent coke withinthe closed car 51. When the car is positioned in the proper positionrelative to the cooling unit 21 the gates 73 will be opened and the hotincandescent coke will pass by the force of gravity through the gates 73into the cooling unit 21.

The car 51 is movable along the track 53 by any suitable means.Conveniently, a locomotive 75 is used to transfer the car to the coolingunit 21.

The car 51 additionally includes a conventional dust collecting and gasscrubbing unit 77 in FIG. 2 which is mounted on one end of the car 51for cleaning andremoving gases evolving from the hot incandescent cokeWithin the closed chamber of the car. This unit 77 is designed to createa negative pressure within the car 51 to prevent evolving gases fromescaping to the atmosphere which causes air pollution, and to cleanthese gases before they pass from the car 51 by the stack 78 of the unit77 into the atmosphere.

The cooling unit 21 in FIG. 3 is a complete enclosure comprisinggenerally a receiving bin 81, a cooling conveyor 83, spray means 85, acollecting conveyor 87, a surge bin 89 in FIG. 1, a summating means 91external of the cooling unit 21 and a dust collecting and gas scrubbingmeans 93.

At the receiving end of the cooling unit 21 in FIG. 3 is the receivingbin 81. The receiving bin 81 comprises a chamber 95 which has agenerally rectangular wall 97 as seen in FIG. 1 and a series of bottomhoppers 98 as shown in FIG. 3. My invention contemplates three bottomhoppers 98 which are aligned with three conveyors 83 for each receivingbin 81. The incandescent coke is charged for temporary storage into thereceiving bin 81.

At the top of the receiving bin 81, a lid 99 or the like is rollablymounted thereon. The lid 99 is normally closed to prevent the escape ofnoxious fumes into the atmosphere and further to protect the hot cokefrom the atmosphere. The lid is movable to an open position by theclosed car 51 by any simple coupling mechanism mounted to the bottom ofthe car 51. As the car 51 approaches the lid 99, the coupling 60 engagesthe lid 99 and as the car 51 proceeds, the lid slides off of thereceiving binv 81 to an open position. After the hot incandescent cokeis dumped into the receiving bin 81, the car 51 ,closes the lid 99 bysliding the lid 99 over the receiving bin 81 to a closed position. Ifdesired, the lid 99 may be operated manually with external means.

The receiving bin 81 is internally lined with an internal refractorylining 101 which is co-extensive with the walls of the bin 81 forprotecting the walls 97 from the high temperatures of the hotincandescent coke contained therein. At the bottom hoppers 98 of thereceiving bin 81, a feeder means 103 is pivotedly mounted at the bottomof the chamber to control the rate of charging hot incandescent coke tothe conveyor 83 disposed thereunder.

Disposed directly beneath the receiving bin 81 are a series of coolingconveyors 83 which carry hot incandescent coke through the cooling unit21; the preferred embodiment contemplates 3 conveyors for one receivingbin composed of an endless stainless steel belt or a plate conveyor orthe like. The conveyors 83 have variable speeds for' passing theincandescent coke through the cooling unit 21 at any speed desired. Thestainless steel belts may be 4 ft. wide and generally extend at rightangles of the receiving bin 81. The conveyors 83 may be horizontal orinclined of the cooling unit 21. At the receiving end of the conveyor83, the temperature detecting means 105 are disposed for measuring thetemperature of the hot incandescent coke as it rides upon the conveyor83. Conventional temperature measuring apparatus may be used as themeans for detecting the temperatures.

A series of water sprays 85 are next provided which are directed ontothe conveyor 83 through which water passes to cool the hot incandescentcoke to a predetermined temperature. As the hot incandescent coke isquenched or cooled, steam and other gases evolving from the contact ofthe water with the hot coke will pass into the plenum chamber 107 intothe stack 109 to a conventional dust collecting and mist suppressingunit 93. In FIG. 1, the plenum chamber 107 shares the common stack 109.

The collecting conveyor 87 is disposed below and at right angles to thecooling conveyors 83 as best illustrated in FIG. 1 which collectingconveyor 87 leads to a surge bin 89 which may be used to temporarilystore the quenched coke. The surge bin 89 is optional with my invention.

Desirably, the system as illustrated herein includes cooling sprays 111located at the receiving ends of the cooling conveyors 83 to cool aconveyor portion itself before the conveyor receives the hotincandescent coke and cooling sprays 113 at the receiving end of the collecting conveyor 87 to cool the collecting conveyor itself before theconveyor portion receives the quenched coke from the cooling conveyors83.

Further, cooling sprays 115 may be provided at the discharge end of thecollecting conveyor 87 to cool the quenched coke to an even lowertemperature if desired, and a temperature detecting means 117 above thecollecting conveyor 87 can activate the cooling spray 115 if thetemperature of the coke has not reached this still lower temperature.

The conditions of cooling hot incandescent coke will vary considerably.For example, the temperature of the hot incandescent coke as it ischarged to the cooling conveyors 83 will depend on the actual cokingconditions in a coke oven, the residence time of the hot coke in theclosed car, and even ambient temperatures. The temperature of the waterused to cool the hot coke will also alter the conditions of cooling. Inorder to consistently provide a quenched coke having a predeterminedtemperature and a uniform moisture content as it exits the cooling unita summating means 91 may be used with my invention.

The summating means 91 is external to the cooling unit and may comprisea computer or the like. Several sources of information are fed to thesummating means. The speed at which the cooling conveyor 83 travels, therate at which incandescent coke is charged to the cooling conveyor 83,the temperature of the water, and the temperature of the incandescentcoke are all summated by the computer to determine the flow rate ofwater necessary to cool the coke to a certain predetermined temperature.The summating means 91 .then relays a signal to control the flow ofwater through the spray means 85. By the use of the summating means 91,the judicial use of Water is provided and further only the waternecessary to cool the coke is used. Hence, elaborate breeze and sumphandling equipment may be eliminated.

The foregoing summating means provide an open loop control system. Ifdesired, a closed loop control system may be provided by additionallyincluding a means for determining the temperature of the coke as itexits from the Water sprays. Then, the summating means 91 relays asignal to control the flow of water through the spray means 85 tomaintain the exit temperature of the coke.

In the operation of my invention, the closed coke guide 31 and theclosed car 51 will be aligned and positioned with a coke oven to receivehot incandescent coke from the oven while the car 51 remains stationary.The coke guide 31 will extend into the coke oven and into the closed car51 at the car door 71 to achieve a relatively close fit.

Hot coke will pass into the car through the closed coke guide 31. Thedust collecting and gas scrubbing unit 77 will evacuate from the carsmoke and the like and emit them in a cleaned state through the stack78.

After receiving the coke, the car 51 will travel to the cooling unit 21,located at some convenient position relative to the coke oven battery.The car 51 will open the wheeled lid 99 of the receiving bin 81 beyondthe bin. While the car 51 is positioned over the bin 81, the car 51 willopen its bottom gates 73 and discharge coke to the receiving bin 81. Thecar 51 will return to the coke oven battery and while going off the bin81, the car 51 will return the wheeled lid 99 to a closed position.

The hot incandescent coke now contained by the receiving bin 81 will bemonitored onto the cooling conveyors 83 by the gate 103 at a certainrate of discharge. The conveyors 83 will travel simultaneously whilereceiving its coke burden so that a controlled thickness of coke Will becarried by the conveyors 83.

The temperature of the incandescent coke will be meas ured prior to itsentry into the Water sprays. As the conveyor 83 advances to the watersprays 85, the Water will be applied to the hot incandescent coke toquench it to a predetermined temperature. The emitted steam and gasesevolving from the coke as it is being quenched will be drawn into theplenum chamber 107 above the sprays into the stack 109 for cleaning byany suitable gas cleaning equipment 93.

The quenched coke will then pass to the collecting conveyor 87 andtravel along to the surge bin 89 for temporary storage until furtherprocessing of the coke is required.

In accordance with this invention, for example, a car 51 having a widthof 14 ft. and a length of 28 ft. will carry the discharge of a coke ovenproducing 25 tons of coke. A receiving bin 30 ft. in length and 8 ft. inwidth and 6 ft. in height 'will handle the discharge of one such ovenevery 6 minutes. The incandescent coke riding on the conveyors 83 willbe charged to 2 cu. ft. of coke per linear ft. per conveyor, there beingthree conveyor belts.

To provide for a 5-minute cooling zone, the conveyor belt Will travel atthe rate of 85 ft. per minute. Thus, each of the three belts will carry2.2 tons of coke per minute or a total of 6.6 tons of coke per minute.

The pattern of water sprayed on the coke extends the Width of the beltand for a length of 40 ft. The sprays supply 4,300 gallons of water onthe coke during its residence time, thereby quenching the coke from aninitial temperature of 1800 F. to 200 F. In this example, lO sprays perconveyor belt are provided with each spray providing 28.6 gallons ofwater per minute.

Thus my novel closed coke cooling system provides a means for protectinghot incandescent coke from air and prevents the pollution of theatmosphere with noxious fumes. A greater yield of coke is produced by myinvention because the hot coke is always protected from air. Water forcooling the coke is conserved and means is included that converts allWater to steam whereby expensive water recirculating equipment iseliminated. Also, a quenched coke is produced that contains a minimumand uniform moisture content.

What is claimed is:

1. A process in a closed coke cooling system for protecting hotincandenscent coke from direct exposure to air, for confining to saidsystem any evolved gases resulting from a reaction of said hot coke withair and for uniformly cooling said hot coke comprising:

(a) passing said hot coke from a coke oven through a closed coke guideinto a closed car;

(b) cleaning any gases escaping from said hot coke in said car with adust collecting and gas scrubbing system mounted on said car;

(c) moving said car while cleaning said gases to a stationary closedcooling zone;

(d) discharging said hot coke from said car into a receiving bin in thecooling zone;

(e) transferring said hot coke from the receiving bin at a certain rateto an endless conveyor;

(f) moving simultaneously said conveyor at a certain speed;

(g) detecting the temperature of said hot coke at the receiving end ofsaid conveyor;

(h) spraying water on said hot coke carried by said conveyor;

(i) summating the rate of transfer of said hot coke to said conveyor,the speed of said conveyor, and the temperature of said hot coke forcontrolling the flow of water onto said hot coke to cool said hot coketo a predetermined temperature; and

(j) cleaning any escaping gases from the cooling of said hot coke with adust collecting and mist suppressing system mounted in the cooling zone.

2. The process of claim 1 further comprising transferring said quenchedcoke from said conveyor to a surge bin for temporary storage.

3. A process in a closed cooling system for uniformly cooling hotincandescent coke and for retaining within said system any gasesevolving from the cooling of said coke comprising:

(a) moving a closed car containing said hot coke to a.

stationary closed cooling zone;

(b) discharging said hot coke from said car to a receiving bin in saidcooling zone;

(c) transferring said hot coke from said bin onto an endless conveyor ata certain rate;

(d) moving simultaneously said conveyor at a certain speed through saidcooling zone;

(e) detecting the temperature of said hot coke on said conveyor at thereceiving end of said conveyor;

(f) spraying water on said hot coke carried by said conveyor;

(g) controlling the fiow of water onto said hot coke by summating therate of transfer of said hot coke to said conveyor, the speed of saidconveyor and the temperature of said coke to cool said hot coke to apredetermined temperature; and

(h) cleaning any escaping gases resulting from the water contacting thehot coke with a dust collecting and mist suppressing system.

4. A method to uniformly cool hot incandescent coke with water in aclosed cooling zone comprising:

(a) charging said hot coke to an endless conveyor at a certain rate;

(b) moving simultaneously said conveyor at a certain speed through saidcooling zone;

(c) detecting the temperature of said hot coke on said conveyor at thereceiving end of said conveyor; (d) spraying water on said hot cokecarried by said conveyor; and

(e) controlling the flow of water onto said hot coke by summating therate of transfer of said hot coke to said conveyor, the speed of saidconveyor and the temperature of said hot coke to cool said hot coke to apredetermined temperature.

5. A closed coke cooling apparatus for protecting hot incandescent cokefrom direct exposure to air, for confining any evolved gases resultingfrom a reaction of said hot coke with air, and for uniformly coolingsaid hot coke comprising:

(a) a closed coke receiving car;

(b) a closed coke guide for the transfer of said hot coke from a cokeoven to said car;

() a dust collecting and gas scrubbing system mounted on said car forcleaning any gases escaping from said hot coke in said car;

(d) a stationary closed cooling zone;

(e) means for moving said car while cleaning said gases to said closedcooling zone;

(f) a receiving bin in said cooling zone;

(g) means for discharging said hot coke from said car into saidreceiving bin in said cooling zone;

(h) an endless conveyor in said cooling zone for carrying said hot coke;

(i) means in said cooling zone for transferring said hot coke from saidreceiving bin at a certain rate to said conveyor;

(j) means for moving said conveyor at a certain speed;

(k) means in said cooling zone for detecting the temperature of said hotcoke at the receiving end of said conveyor;

(1) means in said cooling zone for spraying water onto said hot cokecarried by said conveyor;

(in) means for controlling the flow of water through said spray meansthat is responsive to said coke transferring means, said conveyor movingmeans and said temperature detecting means; and

(n) means in said cooling zone for cleaning any escaping gases from thecooling of said hot coke.

6. A closed coke cooling system operative with a coke oven battery andlocated relative on the coke side of said battery comprising:

(a) a closed coke guide having a means for protecting hot incandescentcoke from exposure to air and for guiding the transfer of said hot cokefrom a coke oven of said battery;

('b) a track along the coke side of said battery;

(c) a closed hopper car travelling on said track and having a bottom anda closed body for containing said hot coke and a door for cooperationwith said guide to receive said hot coke including:

(i) a discharge means at the bottom of said car for discharging said hotcoke;

(ii) a dust collecting and gas scrubbing unit on said car for receivingand cleaning any gases evolving from the hot coke within said car; and

(iii) means for travelling said car on said track;

(d) a stationary closed cooling unit disposed beneath said track forquenching said hot coke and for retaining evolved gases arisingtherefrom comprising:

(i) a receiving bin for receiving the hot coke from said discharge meansof said car including:

(1) a lid means mounted at the top of said bin nearest the track forrestraining gases therein; and

(2) a feeder means mounted on the bottom of said bin for controlling therate of discharge of said hot coke from said bin;

(ii) at least one cooling endless conveyor disposed beneath said bin toreceive and carry said hot coke away from said bin;

(iii) means for moving said conveyor at a certain speed;

(iv) a means disposed near the receiving end of said cooling conveyorfor detecting the temperature of said hot coke;

(v) a spray means in said unit disposed apart from said temperaturedetecting means and near said cooling conveyor for spraying water at apredetermined floW rate to quench said hot coke carried by said coolingconveyor;

(vi) means external of said cooling unit for controlling the rate atwhich water is to be sprayed through said spray means onto said hot cokewhich is responsive to said feeder means, said conveyor moving means andsaid temperature detecting means to cool said hot coke to apredetermined temperature;

(vii) a collecting conveyor positioned at substantially a right angle tosaid cooling conveyors and disposed beneath said cooling conveyors forreceiving the quenched coke from said cooling conveyor;

(viii) a surge bin disposed at the end of said collecting conveyor fortemporarily storing the quenched coke therein; and

(ix) a dust collecting and mist suppressing unit mounted on said coolingunit for receiving and cleaning any escaping gases from the hot cokebeing quenched.

7. A closed coke cooling unit operative with a coke oven batterycomprising:

(a) a receiving bin for containing hot coke that has been dischargedfrom a coke oven;

(b) at least one cooling endless conveyor disposed beneath said bin forreceiving and carrying away said hot coke from said bin;

(c) means in operative association with said receiving bin forcontrolling the rate at which said hot coke is charged onto said coolingconveyor;

(d) means for moving said conveyor at a certain speed;

(e) a means for detecting the temperature of said hot coke disposed nearthe receiving end of said cooling conveyor;

(f) spray means in said unit near said cooling conveyor for sprayingWater onto said hot coke;

(g) means that is responsive to said coke charging means, said conveyormoving means and said temperature detecting means for controlling theflow of water through said spray means;

(h) a collecting conveyor positioned at substantially a right angle tosaid cooling conveyor and disposed beneath said cooling conveyor forreceiving quenched coke from said cooling conveyor; and

(i) a dust collecting and mist suppressing unit mounted on said coolingunit for receiving and cleaning any escaping gases from the hot cokebeing quenched.

8. The closed coke cooling apparatus of claim 7 wherein said closed carcomprises:

(a) a body portion riding on wheels running along the track;

(b) said portion being integrally constructed of bottom, side walls, endwalls, and a closed top forming a closed chamber;

(c) said body portion extending from the wheels of said car to a heightgreater than that of a coke oven door;

(d) said side walls being disposed on each side of said car in asbustantial parallel relationship; one of said side walls nearest thecoke oven having a door thereon for receving the coke guide and saiddoor conforming substantially to the coke oven door;

(e) said bottom having gates through which said hot coke passes when thegates are opened, but which retains said hot coke when closed; and

(f) a dust collecting and gas scrubbing unit mounted on one end of saidcar for cleaning removing any gases evolving from said hot incandescentcoke.

9. The closed coke cooling system of claim 7 wherein the receiving bincomprises:

(a) a chamber having generally rectangular walls and having hoppers atits bottom end;

(b) a wheeled lid rollably mounted on top of said chamber which isnormally closed, but moveable to an open position by the closed car;

(c) said chamber internally lined with an internal refractory liningco-existensive with the internal walls of said chamber for protectingsaid chamber from the hot incandescent coke; and

(d) a feeder means mounted at the bottom of said chamber which controlsthe rate of charging hot incandescent coke to said cooling conveyor.

10. A closed coke cooling system operative with a coke oven batterycomprising:

(a) a closed coke guide to protect hot incandescent coke from exposureto air and for guiding said coke from the coke oven;

(b) a closed hopper car travelling on a track along the coke side ofsaid battery for containing said hot coke and adapted to receive aportion of said guide to form a closed channel communicating with saidoven and said closed car;

(c) a dust collecting and gas scrubbing unit mounted on said car forreceving and cleaning any escaping gases from said hot coke in said car;

(d) said car being adapted to empty said hot coke into a stationaryclosed cooling unit positioned relative to said battery beneath saidtrack;

(e) said closed cooling unit comprising:

(i) at least one cooling endless conveyor disposed beneath said track toreceive and carry away said hot coke, and travelling at a controllablespeed;

(ii) means for charging said hot coke onto said cooling conveyor at acertain rate of charge as said conveyor is moving so that hot coke has acontrolled thickness on said conveyor;

(iii) means for moving said conveyor at a certain speed;

(iv) means for detecting the temperature of said coke disposed near thereceiving end of said conveyor;

(v) spray means in said unit near said cooling conveyor for sprayingwater at a certain flow rate onto said hot coke;

(vi) means that is responsive to said coke charging means, said conveyormoving means and said temperature detecting means for controlling theflow of water through said spray means to cool said hot cake to apredetermined temperature;

(vii) a collecting conveyor positioned relative to said cooling conveyorand disposed beneath said cooling conveyor for receving quenched cokefrom said cooling conveyor; and

(viii) a dust collecting and mist suppressing unit mounted on saidcooling unit for receving and cleaning any escaping gases from the hotcoke being quenched.

11. A staitonary closed cooling zone for uniformly cooling hot,incandescent coke that is received from a conventional coke oven and forconfining any gases evolving from said coke comprising:

(a) an endless conveyor for carrying said hot coke;

(b) a means for moving said conveyor at a certain speed;

(c) a means for charging said hot coke onto said conveyor at acontrollable rate of charge as said conveyor is moving so that said hotcoke has a controlled thickness on said conveyor;

(d) a means for detecting the temperature of said hot coke disposed nearthe receving end of said conveyor;

(e) means for spraying water onto said hot coke carried by saidconveyor; and

(f) means that is responsive to said conveyor moving means, said cokecharging means and said temperature detecting means for controlling theflow of water through said spray means to cool said hot coke to apredetermined temperature.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,876,172 3/ 1959 Haberle202-227X 3,367,844 2/ 1968 Cremer 202-227 3,373,086 3/1968 Wilson 20139FOREIGN PATENTS 922,920 1/ 1963 France 20139 NORMAN YUDKOFF, PrimaryExaminer D. EDWARDS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 137-98; 202-230

